Elemental Halliwells
by crazy-instincts
Summary: 2 years after the ultimate battle, the Charmed ones are living their normal lives, until a lost sister returns, and with her the dawn of a new prophecy. A story of all four Charmed ones, also featuring the kids, Leo, Coop, Henry and Cole.
1. Chapter 1

** Chapter One: 13th January 2008**

"You're almost there Piper!" Phoebe called to her elder sister, as Piper grasped Phoebe's hand tightly, sweat pouring down her face.

"One more push honey and you're done!" Leo smiled at his wife, lying on the hospital bed, giving birth to their third child.

Piper looked up at her two sisters and her beloved husband, she took in a rasping breath and summoned up the energy for one, last push.

"You did it Piper!" Paige said, smiling as she stroked her sister's forehead. The doctor, lifted the baby from the bed, and handed the newborn to her mother. Piper's arms went around the small body of her baby girl, her expression one of wonderment.

"Look what we did honey," Leo said from beside Piper as he gazed at his daughter, "look at the beautiful piece of life we've created."

"Prudence Melinda." Piper whispered to her daughter. "Your name, my beautiful baby girl, is Prudence Melinda Halliwell."

Tears sprung to Phoebe's eyes at the mention of the name of their lost sister, Paige wrapped her arm around Phoebe's waist, knowing that she would be missing her eldest sister.

"She should be here Paige." Phoebe said, her tears a mixture of gratitude for her new niece, and of sadness for the absence of her sister. "Prue should be here for this moment."

"You're right Pheebs, she should be here." Paige replied, wiping her sister's tears away with her fingertips. "But right now, it is time to welcome our niece into our family and hearts."

"Piper?" A voice called from the door to the hospital room. "Piper?" Victor stood in the doorway, five year old Wyatt on one side of him, and four year old Chris on the other side. Behind them stood Coop and Henry. The room became rather crowded as the entire family piled in to welcome the newest member of the Halliwell clan.

***

A whitelighter hovered, surrounded by pearly white and blue orbs, attempting to sense her lost charge. Opening her eyes, the whitelighter smiled, and orbed out to save yet another innocent in danger.

The whitelighter took in her surroundings; a blonde witch was fighting two lower-level demons using telekinesis. In fact, it seemed the young witch had the situation pretty much down pat. The whitelighter shrugged, she didn't mind fighting an extra demon or two.

Holding up her hands the whitelighter matched the blonde's telekinetic powers with her own. The blonde witch turned and looked at the whitelighter in surprise, shrugged and resumed fighting. Within thirty seconds, both demons had gone up in flames.

The blonde witch turned to the whitelighter, "um thanks I suppose." She said, "but I thought the elders had given up on sending whitelighter's to help me. Besides, I was doing fine with the scavenger demons."

The whitelighter shrugged. "I don't know, I got a call from you saying you needed help, but it didn't really look like you needed it."

"Yeah, that's what my other whitelighter said when she first came to me, that I called to her for help or something, which I didn't. Then again, I ended up needing her help a lot more than I thought." The blonde turned away, and hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm Billie by the way, Billie Jenkins." She held her hand out to the whitelighter.

The whitelighter grasped Billie's hand, "Hi," she began. "I'm P-" Before the whitelighter could finish her sentence, she orbed out struggling in a flash of white and blue.

Far up in the haven of the elders, the whitelighter looked to the elders in frustration. "Why did you orb me out? I was talking to the charge you assigned me!"

The elders looked down at the whitelighter. "We could not let you tell Billie your identity. It was not the right time."

The whitelighter looked up at the elders in confusion, this was her seventh year of being a whitelighter, and never had they forbidden her from revealing her name to her charges.

"Why?" The whitelighter protested. "Why couldn't I tell her my name?"

The elders exchanged a glance, Odin, the senior elder looked down to the whitelighter.

"Do you know where you and Billie were, before we withdrew you from the scene?"

The whitelighter shrugged. "Another city, an alley way somewhere… but so what?"

"You were in San Francisco." Odin said, with cold flat eyes.

"What?" The whitelighter said. "San Francisco…" She drifted off. "I haven't been there since, well, since I was alive, since I was with my sisters." The whitelighter looked up at the elders, determined to get an explanation.

"It is time Prue." The elder Sandra said. "The third child has been born, the awakening has begun."

The whitelighter struggled to comprehend the elder's words. "Wait, the third child, who are they? What is the awakening?"

"Prue, we have kept you in the dark about your sister's to help you move forward, but times have changed, and now the greater good must prevail. It is time to join your sisters once more, Prue. It is time to fulfil your new destiny."

And with that, Prue was once again orbed away from her surroundings, as she tried to get her head around what was about to happen.

***

Billie walked to work hurriedly, her brain trying to piece together what had just happened. She pushed open the door to P3 and stepped behind the bar to begin serving customers, but her mind was elsewhere.

Who was that whitelighter? Why did she look so familiar? What was her name?

The sound of a ringing phone interrupted Billie's thoughts, she scrambled for the phone under the counter, she lifted the receiver, her arm knocking over an old photo frame sitting under the counter. Billie's jaw fell open as she caught sight of the picture and the pieces of the puzzle slid into place.

"Call. Back. Later." Billie mumbled into the phone, before picking up the photo frame, grabbing her bag and running from the club.

In her hand she held the photo of the original Charmed One's, of Piper, Phoebe and their long lost sister Prue.

The words from the whitelighter echoed through her head _"Hi I'm P-" _Billie swallowed nervously as she slid behind the wheel of her car. "Prue," she said to herself. The whitelighter's name was Prue.

Billie leaped out of her car, and raced through the front door of the manor. "Guys where are you?" She called frantically.

Billie skidded into the living room were the whole family was crowded around Piper and her new baby.

"Hey Billie," Phoebe sad smiling. "Come and meet Prudence Melinda Halliwell."

Billie looked at the happy family. "I need to talk to all of you. I met someone today, someone none of you have seen in a very long time."


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: Here's the second chapter! Thank-you very much to NeptuneCharm47, Mony19 and LucyCelticPrincess for reviewing. You guys made my day! xx**

**Chapter Two – A Reunion**

The three sisters looked at Billie expectantly.

"Well?" Paige queried, "Who'd you see?"

Billie swallowed and glanced around the sea of faces looking up at her, waiting. Even the baby seemed to be looking at her. She sighed, and decided to just blurt it out.

"Prue. I saw Prue."

Piper looked blankly up at her. "Well of course sweetie," she said. "You're looking at Prudence Melinda right now." The newborn gurgled happily in her mother's arms, Leo smiled and made faces at his daughter.

"No" Billie repeated sighing. "I saw your sister."

Piper swallowed and looked to Phoebe, both unsure of how to react. Paige glanced between her two sisters, watching the expressions of confusion on Piper and Phoebe's faces.

Phoebe closed her eyes and put her head in her hands. "Billie sweetie, we're kind of having a family moment right now with the newest member of our family. I- I don' think now's the time to bring up old wounds." She bit her lip and looked up at the young witch, standing awkwardly amongst the family.

"I'm sorry to drop this on you guys," Billie continued. "I know the loss of Prue still hurts, a lot. Trust me, I know what it's like to lose a sister." The sisters glanced between each other, reminiscing of the battle with Billie and her sister Christy. "But, I have to say it, because it changes everything." Billie looked at the three sisters, all unsure of how to react to Billie's words.

"Prue orbed in and helped me vanquish two scavenger demons. I didn't recognise her at once, but then I saw the picture of you two and Prue in P3," Billie said, nodding towards Piper and Phoebe on the couch. "I'm certain it was her. I- I think you might get your sister back." Billie's face broke out into a smile at the prospect of Prue Halliwell, super-witch returning.

Piper and Phoebe looked at each other, mirroring expressions of hope and vulnerability. Tears began to fall from Pipers eyes as she cuddled her baby daughter.

Piper stood abruptly, muttered something about time alone with her baby, and quickly walked from the room, shielding her face from the others. Leo stood and quietly followed behind his wife.

Billie looked from Piper's retreating form to the remaining two sisters.

"I thought she'd be happy." Billie murmured.

Phoebe wiped the tears from her eyes, and looked up at the blonde witch. "The thing is Billie," Phoebe said. "Piper and I wished for so long to have our big sister returned to us, to see her again. Piper is, well, she's scared to get her hopes up, to put herself into that position of vulnerability, only to find out what we've always feared. That we'll never see Prue again."

Paige placed a comforting arm around Phoebe as Phoebe bit her lip, trying to prevent herself from falling apart.

"I swear it was her." Billie said quietly. "I know it was." The sound of a ringing phone sounded from Billies pocket. "Hello?" Billie said into her mobile. "But- Yes, I'll be right over." Billie sighed and snapped her phone shut.

"Dominic wants me back at the club to finish my shift. Ever since Piper employed him to manage the club I've had to work so much harder." Billie paused, realising that it probably wasn't the right time to talk about P3. "Just, think about what I said about Prue." Billie said quietly before letting herself out the door.

Upstairs, Piper and Leo lay on their bed, Leo holding Prudence Melinda, as Piper cried onto his shoulder.

"I'm scared of hoping Leo, I'm really, really scared." Piper said quietly. "I don't know what to do, and right now, I need to be strong, for our daughter, and for our sons."

Leo opened his mouth to reassure his wife, but before he could say a word, Wyatt orbed onto the bed.

"Wyatt honey?" Piper said, sitting up and wiping the tears from her eyes. "Remember how we asked you to knock before orbing?"

Wyatt nodded, and his lip began to tremble, he looked up with wide eyes at his mother.

"Come here little guy," Piper said to her son, Wyatt crawled across the bed and into his mother's arms. Both mother and son began to cry gently.

"Where's Aunt Prue?" Wyatt asked quietly.

"I don't know honey, I really don't know." Piper replied to her son, as she wept.

Phoebe and Paige walked through the door and joined the family on the bed.

Piper looked to her sisters. "Is Chris with Coop and Henry?" Phoebe and Paige nodded in response.

"Here you are Wyatt." Paige said, stroking his hair. "We were worried when you orbed out on us."

Five-year-old Wyatt looked up at his family surrounding him, and spoke with a voice mature beyond his years. "I'm going to find Prue mommy." He said. "I promise."

"Okay little guy." Piper said, hugging her son tight to her body, "okay."

Phoebe looked to Paige, and asked quietly "Paige? Can you sense her anywhere? Can you sense Prue?" Everyone looked at Paige as she closed her eyes, trying to keep the hope from their faces.

Paige opened her eyes and shook her head. "I'm sorry. Nothing. Or, at least, something could be blocking her signal."

The sister's faces fell, Leo pulled his wife against him as she continued to weep, Prudence Melinda also began to cry.

Blue-white orbs flashed, and by the time everyone looked up, Wyatt was gone.

***

Prue scrunched her toes up in the sand, as she watched the continual flow and ebb of the waves. She did not know why the elders had orbed her to the beach of all places; it only held bad memories for her.

She remembered that day, better than any other day before or after, it had been the day that had changed everything.

_Seven-year-old Prue stood at the shoreline, Phoebe in her arms. Prue's arms were tiring of holding two-year-old Phoebe, she was getting past the stage were little Prue could hold her comfortably. But on that day, the girls needed each other, more than anything. Their grams stood behind the three sisters, watching her granddaughters grieve silently for their mother. Piper stood next to her elder sister, her hand grasped firmly onto the hem of Prue's shirt, determined for some contact to her sister's. _

_That was the day everything changed, it was the day where Prue lost her childhood innocence, when she became a mother, for her sister's. Grams would be there, she would take care of them, but it was Prue that Piper and Phoebe would turn to from then on._

_When their father turned and walked out the front door for good, Piper turned to her big sister, longing for reassurance that their father would be returning._

"_Why did daddy leave Prue? Why isn't he coming back?." And Prue would hug her little sister, tell her it would be all right. Piper cried, and murmured, "He left us, just like mum did. Why does everyone always leave us Prue?"_

_Prue would stroke her sister's long, dark hair and say gently. "We've got each other Piper, you me and Phoebe will always have each other."_

_When Phoebe came into Prue's room one night, her eyes wide, her nightgown falling off her shoulders. "Why don't we have a mom Prue? Why?"_

_And Prue could not answer, for she did not understand why their mother had been taken from them, so she hugged Phoebe to her, and pulled the blankets over her baby sister and tucked her into her own bed and whispered. _

"_We've got each other Phoebe, you, me and Piper will always have each other."_

Prue's hand traced a triquetra into the sand, it was their symbol, it was everything they used to stand for, as both witches and sisters.

Everything changed when Shax came for them, she was wrenched away from her sister's, and they weren't there for each other anymore. Everything was different. And now? Prue didn't understand what happened now. She didn't understand.

The sound of orbs brought Prue out of her reverie, turning she saw a small child, standing there, his feet in the water.

"Come on," she said to the child. "You'll catch a cold." The boy nodded and walked over to her. His blond hair blew in the wind, his small blue eyes looked at Prue curiously. There was something familiar about the child. The boy lifted his arms, and opened them, as if asking for a hug.

"Prue." He said, a smile spreading across his face. "Prue come home." Stunned, Prue lifted opened her arms and embraced the child, wondering who he was.

And once again, Prue was orbed from her surroundings, and into the place she had longed to return to for the past seven years.

***

Piper was doing what she did best, well, perhaps second best after cooking. She was worrying.

"Are you sure you can't sense him Paige?" Piper asked again to her baby sister.

"I'm sorry, but he's cloaking his signal against me. I don't know how he's doing it, but I suppose it comes with the whole twice-blessed son package."

Once again, the whole family was gathered in the lounge room. Piper was pacing, Phoebe was holding her baby niece, and Paige continued desperately to sense her nephew.

They all looked up suddenly as orbs appeared under the chandelier. Standing there was a woman, or rather, a sister, holding Wyatt in her arms.

"Prue…" Piper, Phoebe and Paige all whispered, stunned by the sight before them. Prue hurriedly placed Wyatt down and ran to embrace her sisters.

Prue, Piper and Phoebe stood, arms around each other, foreheads pressed together crying.

"Billie said…" Piper murmured, "but I was too scared to believe…"

"I missed you so much …" Phoebe cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I know," Prue replied, as her little sisters cried once more, onto her shoulders. "I know. But I'm here now, and everything is going to be all right. We've got each other."

Piper and Phoebe looked up at their older sister and smiled at the familiar phrase from their childhood.

"We've got each other." They repeated.

Paige stood beside Henry, watching her sisters embrace, not sure of how to proceed. She bit her lip and looked to her husband. Henry wrapped an arm around her waist and murmured. "You belong here Paige, never doubt that."

At his words, the three sisters looked up at Paige, who looking uncertainly towards Prue.

"Paige," Prue said, stepping away from Piper and Phoebe and towards her youngest sister. "You held this family together for me. You kept our family whole. I'm so proud of you."

At Prue's words, Paige too stepped forward and embraced her eldest sister. Even though Prue was practically a stranger to her, somehow, embracing her felt so right.

The four sisters looked between each other, their hands unconsciously joined and smiled. They were one.

The room began to shake, and strange light erupted from above them. The chandelier emitted light once more, as it had done on two previous occasions.

Then, suddenly, it was finished. Prue and Paige spoke simultaneously.

"The Power of… Four?"

**Authors Note: All types of feedback are greatly appreciated. I cherish every review! Plus, it encourages me to write more! xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: Many, many thanks go to NeptuneCharm47, kcbelles, Mony19, will. you. say. ok and MAD DOGG for reviewing the second chapter. I love getting feedback! Here's the third chapter…**

**Chapter Three: Trying to Understand**

There were many tears around the Halliwell living room that day, yet these tears were no longer tears of grief, but ones of gratitude.

"I just can't believe it…" Phoebe said, staring in awe at her oldest sister. "After all these years, now you're back? Out of nowhere? I'm, I'm shocked… and relieved, and amazed." Phoebe shook her head, and looked between her three beloved sisters.

Piper followed on after Phoebe, as she herself was wondering much the same thing. "Why now Prue? I mean, we cast spell after spell trying to bring you back… We begged them to let you return to us. And, and, now… we suddenly have you back, why now? Did the elders finally decide to do something decent?" Piper declared, flinging her arms about around her.

Henry flinched away, he'd seen those hands in action, and as much as he knew after ten years Piper had very good control over her powers, it never hurt to be cautious, especially when the sisters were so emotional.

"Honey, be careful…" Leo said warily, glancing up to the ceiling meaningfully.

"You're a mortal now honey," Piper said smiling at her husband. "They can't take you away from me anymore." The couple looked at each other, and smiled, remembering the many past hardships.

"Woah, wait…" Prue said. "You're mortal Leo? Since when?" Prue said, as she glanced around at the family she hadn't seen in years, what had she missed out on?

"Oh you know," Leo said. "After Wyatt and Chris were born… But quite a while before our beautiful baby girl." Leo said, bobbing baby Prudence Melinda up and down gently as he made faces at his daughter.

Prue really couldn't get her mind around it all; she plonked herself wearily down onto the couch. "Wow Piper, three kids." She smiled at her little sister. "You sure have been busy."

Piper grinned back, an arm around each of her sons. "I think it's about time we explained everything that's gone on in the past seven years." Prue nodded; relieved that she was finally going to get the answers she'd been begging the elders to give her for years.

"So, you know about me then?" Paige asked. "About Sam, mom's whitelighter being my dad? And how I found Piper and Phoebe soon after you- well, after you died?" It felt weird talking to Prue about her death, Paige thought as she looked at her eldest sister. Suddenly, Paige realised she did resemble this woman she'd never known quite a lot. The dark brown hair, so dark it was nearly black, the high cheek bones… Paige smiled, and thought to herself _I think I can get used to this, to knowing Prue, to this new power of four thing…_

Prue smiled at her youngest sister. "Yeah, grams and mom told me about you when I was, you know, up there, before I was given my whitelighter duties."

"So…" Paige said slowly, "What's it like 'up there' after the whole dying thing." Paige asked.

"Nice try sis," Prue said smirking. "Can't answer though." Prue paused, her face growing more serious. "Please, tell me about everything, I've been dying to know for so long."

Piper, Phoebe and Paige looked between each other and began their story, of discovering Paige, of Phoebe marrying Cole and of all the hardships between them, of Piper and Leo's obstacles that they fought through together, of the various earth-shattering demon battles, of the birth of Piper and Leo' two beautiful boys, of losing adult Chris, of the avatars, of Paige meeting Henry and Phoebe meeting Coop and both their marriages. And, finally, the birth of Prudence Melinda, the third child born of the Charmed Ones.

Piper looked at Prue, "it can't be a coincidence." She said, her arms around her baby daughter. "The day I give birth to my daughter named after you, you come back into the world, and you come back to us. After all these years, I think we can recognise when there's a higher power at work."

Prue nodded, "you must be right, after all, that was one of the first things we learnt as witches, remember? There are no coincidences."

"Everything happens for a reason." Wyatt said quietly, the sisters smiled down at the small boy, as he looked up smiling at his mother and aunts.

"I don't know much, but I'll tell you what the elders told me." Prue said, as her hand absent-mindedly stroked her nephew's head.

"The elders said that it was time, that the third child had been born and the awakening had begun. I was told it was time to join my sisters once more, and that it was time to fulfil my new destiny." Prue paused, as she tried once more to get her head around the limited information they had.

Pure looked back up at her sisters and begun to speak once more. "So, what we know is that the birth of your daughter Piper, triggered the beginning of some 'awakening.'"

"And this awakening," Phoebe continued, "will bring about yet another destiny, and if it involves you Prue, then it probably involves all four of us."

The four sisters looked between each other nodding, as the rest of the family sat back and watched the Charmed Ones do what they did best, work as both sisters and witches.

"So the question is," Piper said. "What is this awakening, and what is our new destiny?"

Silence fell, as each sister sat perplexed, unsure of how to continue. Then, suddenly, Paige looked up and smiled.

"How are we supposed to solve a magical conundrum without the assistance of family's book?" Paige smiled and held her hands out in front of her. "Book of Shadows!"

The sisters crowded around Paige as they flipped through the book rapidly. "Hey guys," Prue said smiling, "Remember, there is a quicker

way at doing this."

"The Awakening, cross reference the Charmed Ones and umm, destiny?" Prue said shrugging, holding her hands over the book. The pages began to flip backwards and forwards before settling open on a page with 'The Awakening' written elaborately across the top of the entry.

"The Awakening" Phoebe read "refers to a time in history when the status of good and evil are severely altered. This is often caused by a rising source of a new powerful evil creature, race or faction. Good magic releases an equal force of good to keep the grand design in balance. Inevitably, these two new forces will meet at some stage in time to battle until one of the forces are extinguished from existence.

Ultimately, such a battle results in a new era for magic, depending on the conqueror in the battle; the new era will either be one of light magic, or one of dark."

Phoebe swallowed, and looked up at her sisters. "Ok," she said. "It looks like we've been given Prue to help combat an evil so powerful that Three Charmed Ones aren't strong enough to defeat."

"But… " Paige said, "I thought the Power of Three was the most powerful source of good magic. Period." At her words, the book flipped open to the very beginning of the book.

"Hey," Phoebe said smiling, "I remember reading this before we had our powers… I spoke the incantation and brought our powers back, and you guys," she said looking at Piper and Prue, "were furious with me."

Paige smiled, she could picture her sisters arguing about becoming witches.

"Wait," Prue said, pointing at a line of writing in the Book of Shadows. "Look, the Book says the most powerful force of good magic is the Charmed Ones, right?"

"Well yeah," Piper said. "But of course we know that."

Prue smiled, "yes, but you all agree that each of us is a Charmed One, yes?"

"Yeah." Each of her sisters replied simultaneously as Prue's grin grew. "And yet, there's four of us, isn't there? So, how about we remain the Charmed Ones… but, we just alter the bit where it refers to 'the power of three.'"

Paige looked up at her eldest sister and smiled. "And instead we become the Power of Four." Paige nodded.

"Phoebe cocked her head to one side, "The Power of Four… Forever More… It kind of has a ring to it doesn't it?"

"Hey look," Piper said, looking back down at the book. "There's an activation spell for the force of good of the awakening."

"But we already have our powers…" Paige said looking confused. "Wait, do you still have your powers Prue?"

Prue nodded, "yeah, I've got my Charmed powers as well as my whitelighter powers."

"Well, should we give the spell a shot anyway?" said Phoebe. "It can't hurt can it?"

And so, the four sisters joined hands, looked down at the book and began to recite the spell.

"_We call upon the magic of the light,_

_We call upon our ancestor's strength and might._

_In this time of war_

_We need the powers of none before_

_Let the powers of warriors forsaken,_

_Unearth to be reawakened_

_Bring to us the strength we require_

_Of earth, wind, water and fire."_

Silence fell, and nothing seemed to change. Yet, unknown to the Halliwells, powers much deeper than they'd ever come across before, began to surface.

**Authors Note: Thanks so much for reading! I really love feedback; constructive criticism is welcome as well! So please review, they really make my day! xx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: So many thanks go to LucyCelticPrincess, NeptuneCharm47, Mony19 and CharmingKelsey16 for reviewing chapter three. This chapter is dedicated to you guys! **

**Chapter Four: Stirring**

Prue slowly closed the Book of Shadows, and placed it gently back on its stand. She was astounded by how much she had missed out on. Sure, she'd known her sisters would continue fighting demons and living their lives, but it was simply astounding what they had gone through without her.

_Without me there to protect them; _Prue couldn't help but think. She was so used to being the head of the family, being the eldest sister and being the leader that it was quite strange to think about how much had changed since the year 2001.

Walking from the attic, Prue descended the stairs and walked into the lounge room. The walls were covered in pictures; some Prue recognised from when she had been alive, of her, Piper and Phoebe's childhood, and of the three of them as adults from when they were the power of three.

However many of the photographs were foreign to Prue, pictures of Piper, Phoebe and Paige smiling up at the camera. Pictures of Phoebe's wedding, pictures of Paige's wedding, pictures of Wyatt and Chris.

A tear began to slide down Prue's cheek, as she gazed upon all that she had missed. Sure, she had missed the vanquishing of dozens of demons, but more importantly, she'd missed her little sisters growing up.

"Prue?" Piper walked into the living room, an oven mitt still on one hand, a sprinkling of flour on her face and Christopher on her hip. Prue couldn't help smiling at her sister; Piper grinned back at her.

"Leo, me and the kids are going to the park for a walk before everyone arrives for dinner. Would you like to come?" Prue watched as Piper tilted her head slightly to the side as she waited for her reply. _She always used to tilt her head like that_, Prue thought to herself _always._ Prue shook herself from her reverie.

"No thanks, I think I'll stay here, and you know, re-acquaint myself with the manor."

Prue watched Piper walk out the door, her long hair swinging back and forth. A quartz crystal sitting discreetly beside a pot plant near the door glowed slightly, as if recognising that Piper and Chris were leaving the house.

Prue glanced around the living room, and more quartz crystals became apparent, Piper had surrounded every room in the house with protection crystals, to keep her family safe.

Prue sighed; her sister had become so strong, so independent. Yet, to Prue, Piper was still her little sister and it still showed how vulnerable Piper was, how scared she was of someone hurting her husband, children or sisters.

Prue looked back to the photo of Piper, Phoebe and Paige. Each of them had come so far, had gone through so much. And yet, once more, the greater good required them to risk their lives to preserve magic.

Breathing in and pushing her shoulders back, Prue's determination set into a firm resolve.

"I will not let anything hurt them. Ever. Again." She said firmly, her fists clenched at her sides.

"I will do anything to keep them safe. Anything."

Prue opened her eyes to see each candle around the room alight with long thin flames, sparking and spluttering. Slowly Prue outstretched her hands, and watched as the flames bent towards her palms.

"What the-" Prue muttered, at the flames that surrounded her.

Quickly, Prue lowered her hands, and as if on cue, each flame quietened down to a small, steady flame burning merrily.

"How did that happen?" She asked herself bewildered.

Prue closed her eyes and concentrated, and with that, each candle went out, their flames snuffed from existence.

***

"Fireball!" Paige called, orbing a warlock's fireball away from her charge. Angrily, the warlock swung around, caught sight of Paige and began to re-conjure a fireball.

Paige held out her hands once more as the next fireball came speeding towards her.

"Fireball!" Paige yelled again, yet, instead of orbing back towards its source, a powerful wind erupted from Paige's palms, and repelled the fireball back to the warlock, succeeding in vanquishing it.

Paige looked at her hands bewildered. _Where had that come from?_ She thought to herself, perplexed by what had just happened.

"Thank-you!" Paige's charge exclaimed. "Thank-you so much Paige!"

"You're welcome Stephanie." Paige said distractedly, still gazing at her hands.

Stephanie smiled at her whitelighter and said, "I didn't know you had the power of the winds Paige?" Stephanie cocked her head to one side, waiting for a reply.

Paige looked at her charge, and murmured quietly to herself.

"Power of the winds…" Paige shook herself and looked back to her charge. "Sorry Stephanie, I need to go…"

"Thanks again!" Stephanie called as Paige orbed out of the scene, Stephanie's words still echoing in her mind.

***

Phoebe's fingers typed away at her lap-top, as she wrote the final sentence of her book. A smile spread across Phoebe's face as she let out a triumphant whoop of joy.

"I finished!" Phoebe yelled, "I did it!"

Coop came rushing into the room, smiling at his wife as she bounced up and down, her reading glasses falling haphazardly from her nose and onto the floor.

"You finished the book?" Coop said grinning.

"Yes! Yes I did!" Phoebe paused and looked down at the computer.

"Honey?" Coop asked, at Phoebe sat back down at her desk, and began scrolling through the many typed pages.

"I forgot one thing…" Phoebe opened the document at the beginning, and typed across the top of the page:

_I dedicate this book to those I love most in life: my beautiful husband Coop and my three beautiful sisters, Prue, Piper and Paige._

Phoebe clicked save, and looked back at her husband. "Now it's finished."

Coop smiled and bent to kiss Phoebe, "I'm honoured." He murmured against her lips

"Mmmm," Phoebe murmured back, as she deepened the kiss and wrapped her arms around the back of Coop's neck, her fingers running through his dark, soft hair.

Coop lifted her up, and Phoebe wrapped her legs around Coop's waist as he carried her to their bed without breaking their kiss.

Phoebe felt overwhelmed by her love for Coop, by how much she wanted him, by how complete her life was right in that moment. Everything felt so intense; her emotions were swirling around her as she grappled at Coop, pulling off his shirt as he grinned down at her.

Something was different; Phoebe couldn't help but think. Everything felt much more intense, her emotions were amplified within her mind and her body, and she could _feel_ Coop's longing for her.

Suddenly, it clicked; Phoebe abruptly broke away from the kiss and looked at Coop.

"Coop," Phoebe said breathlessly, "I think I just got my Empath powers back."

Coop looked at his wife in surprise. "Wow, really?" he said. "Are you sure?"

Phoebe nodded, "Yeah, I'm definitely being bombarded by emotions, but it feels kind of different than it used to… it feels more… fluid?" Phoebe looked at Coop, her eyes asking if her words made any sense.

Coop's eyebrows furrowed as he tucked a strand of Phoebe's hair behind her ear. "Well," he said, as he considered his wife's words. "Your powers grow as you do, don't they?" Coop theorised, shrugging.

Phoebe bit her lip. "Maybe it's just that, but it feels bigger, more than empathy. It's like; the air around us is thick with our love and our emotions. Yet I can also feel the throbbing of the emotions from around the city…" Phoebe trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"Throbbing?" Coop questioned.

"Yeah," Phoebe confirmed, "it's like, a tide of emotions that washes in and out, like a heartbeat… or rather, like the ocean."

"Really?" Coop said, his eyes wide, he propped himself up on his elbow, knocking a glass from the bedside table and spilling water over the timber floors.

"Let me get that," Phoebe said bending down, but as her hands went to pick up the glass, the water itself began to move.

"C-Coop…" Phoebe stuttered, Coop hurriedly came and kneeled beside Phoebe as she slowly moved the water in a whirlpool with the circling motion of her hands.

"Are you using telekinesis?" Coop asked stunned.

"No." Phoebe replied, her attention still focussed on the swirling liquid. "I'm channelling my emotions through the movement of my hands into the water."

Phoebe let her hands drop, the water splattering down over the floor once more.

"What do you think this means?" Phoebe asked her husband nervously, although, Phoebe admitted to herself, she was very excited about her new ability.

Coop took her hand and smiled. "I'm not sure, but it's definitely something to discuss with your sisters at dinner tonight."

***

Piper breathed out and squeezed Leo's hand gently as they strolled through the park. He smiled down at her, baby Prudence Melinda in his arms.

"I've been thinking," Leo said, smiling at his wife. "As of today, we have two Prudence's living under our roof, so what do you think of calling Prudence Melinda by her middle name, to prevent confusion?"

Piper looked down at her daughter. "What do you think Prudence Melinda? How about we nick name you Melinda, hmm?" A happy gurgling sound came out of the baby girl's mouth.

Leo grinned, "Melinda it is."

Wyatt and Chris walked next to each other, talking happily about the return of Aunty Prue and the birth of their baby sister.

A warm feeling filled Piper's chest as she watched her family. She had everything she wanted her loving husband Leo, the two boys, and their beautiful baby daughter, as well as the return of her big sister.

Piper smiled, she was truly happy.

Chris looked down at the ground behind him and giggled to himself. "Look Wyatt," Chris said pointing. "Pretty."

Piper and Leo turned around to see flowers spontaneously growing from where the family had walked only seconds previously.

"Wyatt," Piper said, kneeling down to her eldest son. "No magic outside home, you know that."

Wyatt shook his head and smiled. "It wasn't me mommy. It wasn't."

Piper turned her gaze to her other son. "Chris?" She asked him. Chris shook his head vigorously. "Not me!" He exclaimed.

Piper looked at Leo in confusion.

"Could it have been Melinda?" Piper asked her husband.

"It wasn't Mel mommy." Wyatt replied, lifting his arm and pointing at his mother. "It was you!"

"What?" Piper replied, surprised by Wyatt's claim. "Why would you think that Wyatt?"

Wyatt looked confused by his mother's question. "When you use your magic, I know." He said simply, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

Leo smiled down at his son, "he can probably sense your magical signature Piper," he said, looking at his wife.

Piper stood back up straight and looked at Leo. "But flower growing, or whatever you call _that_" Piper said gesturing towards the trail of blossoms, "is _not _my power."

"'Tis now." Wyatt said, smiling up at his parents. Deciding to worry about the strange new power later, Piper grinned at her sons.

"Is it now? Well then, bet you guys can't catch me!" Piper said before slowly running off, Wyatt and Chris running and giggling after their mom, a trail of flowers in their midst.

***

Around the dinner table at the Halliwell manor that night sat Piper, Leo and the children, as well as Prue, Phoebe, Paige, Coop and Henry. Piper had heartily taken up the challenge to cook one of her feasts, filled with all of Prue's old favourite meals.

Phoebe couldn't contain her thoughts any longer. "Something happened to me today, something weird." She said looking around the table. Prue, Piper and Paige all lifted their heads and nodded, replying in a resounding.

"Me too!" The girls smiled at each other, before nodding at Phoebe to continue.

"I went to pick up a glass of water, and somehow manipulated the water by channelling my emotions."

Piper gasped as the realisation hit her.

"What is it?" The other three sisters, Leo, Coop and Henry exclaimed.

Piper swallowed and looked between her sisters. "I made flowers grow out of the ground in seconds today at the park." Piper said, waiting for the connection to dawn on her sisters.

"So," Piper continued a scared smile on her face. "I manipulated the powers of the earth, and Phoebe the powers of water. I would take a hazard guess that you manipulated fire Prue?"

Prue nodded the gravity of the situation dawning on her.

"And Paige?" Piper continued, "You would be air?"

"Are you saying," Phoebe said slowly, "that each of us controls one of the four elements?"

Leo nodded in answer to Phoebe's question. "Yes Phoebe, that's exactly it." Leo gestured towards Prue.

"Prue, your strong will, determination and your desire to always protect your sisters strongly ties you to the element of Fire. Piper," Leo said smiling at is wife. "Like I said years ago, when you, Phoebe and Paige became goddesses, your stability, strength and your mothering nature brings you to the element of the Earth."

Leo looked at Phoebe, "Phoebe, you have always been about emotions, you always follow your heart, you are intuitive and what's more, you're an empath. All of these are definitive qualities of the element of Water." Phoebe smiled, proud.

"And Paige," Leo said looking to the youngest sister. "Your free spirit, creativity and your adaptability ties you to the element of Air."

Piper grinned at her husband. "See, even as a mortal, you're still our whitelighter." Leo grinned back at her.

"Well," Prue said, straightening up and running the new information through her head. "The spell yesterday must have conjured our elemental powers, after all the spell itself did refer to the elements." Prue pointed out. "I think it's time we ask the elders what they know about this awakening and our new powers."

After a minute or so of yelling towards the ceiling, the elder Sandra orbed into the dining room. The sisters looked towards the elder expectantly.

"Well, what do you know about this so-called 'awakening'?" Prue demanded, staring her boss in the eyes.

Sandra sighed and her eyes began to soften. "Very little I'm afraid. All the elders know is that the four of you were chosen by those above and were gifted with the natural elements."

"Wait a second," Paige said, narrowing her eyes at the elder. "The powers above? Are you referring to the elders?"

Sandra bowed her head, her hands clasped. "No, those who selected the four of you are beyond our power. They are neither good nor evil, they are more powerful than avatars or angels of destiny. They are, and remain unknown."

"The unknown?" Piper said sceptically.

"Yes." Sandra replied. "We elders have little knowledge of them, they are as close to a divine force that we know of, yet they interfere very little."

"But of course, they interfere with us." Paige said rolling her eyes.

"How do we contact them?" Prue demanded, glaring at the elder.

"We are not sure." Sandra said quietly. "I am sorry, that is all I know." A swirl of orbs surrounded the elder and she was gone.

Phoebe looked at her sisters. "Well, if anyone can summon 'them' it's us right?" Phoebe said grinning. "The Charmed Ones, the Power of Four and the Elementals all rolled into one?"

Shrugging, the four sisters joined hands, Prue began to speak.

"_Remove the chains of time and space,_

_In this place I now embrace."_

Piper opened her mouth and the spell streamed forth.

" _The powers of earth, water, wind and fire _

_Obey our will and desire."_

Almost automatically, Phoebe continued on the spell

"_Reveal a power yet unknown, _

_Remove the barriers and let it be shown."_

Smiling, Paige ended the spell

"_Inform us of the powers that be_

_And a destiny we cannot see."_

Falling silent, the girls looked at each other and nodded, happy with their first improvised spell with all four sisters.

"You called?" A familiar voice sounded.

Looking up, the four girls saw a man they had hoped not to lay eyes on again, yet there he was, a smirk playing on his handsome face.

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I love receiving feedback, so please feel free to review! Constructive criticism is also welcome! xx**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Here's the fifth chapter! Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, they made my day :D So, this chapter is for those reviewers, namely: ****CharmingKelsey16, Joleca, LucyCelticPrincess, anetteo, Mony19, kami and will. you. say. ok.**

**Chapter Five: An Old Nemesis and Lover Returns**

A tall, dark and handsome man stood before the four Halliwell sisters, a small smirk playing on his lips. He looked up at the sisters and smiled, it was evident that he thought the situation humorous.

The Charmed Ones did not think it was amusing in the slightest.

Phoebe finally managed to find her voice, looked the man straight in the eyes and said firmly.

"_Cole?_" Phoebe exclaimed stunned."What are you doing here?"

Coop, standing behind the sisters with Leo, Henry and the children, visibly stiffened. He had after all, heard much about the hell this demon put Phoebe through.

"What am _I_ doing here Phoebe dearest?" Cole asked grinning. "Why don't you ask yourself that? Seeing as it was you and your sisters who summoned me here."

Prue and Piper grabbed onto of Phoebe's hands and Coop came up behind Phoebe, wrapping his arms around her waist reassuringly.

Paige glared at Cole, and Cole glared right back, after all, they had always despised one another. Prue smiled at her youngest sister's glare, it seemed her and Paige had yet another thing in common.

"Piper!" Cole said, extending his hand towards his hand towards Piper. "What a pleasure it is to see you breathing again." Piper looked away, wisely choosing not to reply to Cole's comment.

"So much for a warm welcome," Cole muttered to no one in particular. "You'd think after they _invited _me here they'd at least be accommodating to their guest." He glanced up at the sisters, waiting for one of them to comment.

Phoebe sighed, and looked up at her ex-husband, a look of distaste placed firmly on her face. "What are you doing here Cole?"

"I think the question is; why did you summon me?" Cole said, smiling again, it seemed he rather enjoyed this game.

"Summon you?" Piper said pointedly, "We were summoning the 'unknown power' or something."

A broad grin spread across Cole's face. "Exactly." Cole looked directly at Piper. "Don't you remember Piper? Your dying body, Leo clueless miles away and me, teaching your spirit how to reclaim life?" Cole smiled at the look on Piper's face; it was evident that she had not shared Cole's involvement in that situation with her sisters.

"What?" Phoebe and Paige exclaimed, turning to face their sister. Prue stood watching, the exact details on the Cole situation still hazy.

"You didn't tell me that you saw my ex-husband while you were in a coma!" Phoebe said, Piper now the subject of Phoebe's glare.

"I- I didn't want to open wounds that we'd spent so long trying to close Phoebe! Remember, that was when you were just rediscovering love with that Drake guy." Piper said, waiting for recognition in Phoebe's eyes.

"Oh yeah, he was awesome." Phoebe said smiling slightly. Phoebe turned to Coop. "He was one of the guys we saw when we went to see my past loves."

"The Shakespeare demon guy?" Coop said smiling at his wife.

"Mm-hmm." Phoebe said, smiling back at her husband, for a moment completely forgetting her demon e-husband was in the room.

Cole cleared his throat loudly, "Excuse me! That was also my doing." Cole chuckled at the disbelieving look on Phoebe's face.

"What did you think I've been doing all this time people?" Cole said loudly, addressing everybody in the room.

"Well I was hoping you were rotting in hell like you deserved." Paige said vehemently.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Cole said smirking. "But before I could 'rot' as you so elegantly put it _Paige,_" Cole said, distaste evident in his voice. "I was instead recruited to take part in something else all together."

"Something else?" Prue queried, looking Cole straight in the eyes.

Cole looked straight back at the eldest Halliwell and smirked, Prue hadn't changed much, her eyes bore into Cole's knowingly, just like they did back when she was alive.

"After your three younger sisters vanquished me," Cole said, addressing Prue. "A group of… of individuals decided that I would be a benefit to their… organization."

"Well, does your organization have a name?" Paige shot at Cole.

"We are known as the Paradoxes." Cole said, sweeping his arms about him elaborately, as if performing an obscure act of theatre. It seemed that Cole was even more insane than the last time the Charmed Ones had seen him.

"The Paradoxes recruit powerful beings on the verge of obliteration. They accept them into their ranks to further the progression of magic and power."

"Well that's hardly surprising." Phoebe muttered. Cole narrowed his eyes at his ex-wife.

"Well, what's that suppose to mean, oh dearest Phoebe?"

"Cole, you were always a paradox." Phoebe said, ignoring Cole's endearment. "You couldn't be good and you couldn't be evil, you couldn't be human and you couldn't be a demon."

"Exactly." Cole said, pointing his finger at Phoebe. "The Paradoxes typically recruit those with immense power and no true purpose, and since _my_ only purpose was to be with Phoebe," Cole glanced at his ex-wife and couldn't help but grimace at the sight of her hands interlocked with the Cupid's.

"And since it became highly unlikely Phoebe would ever take me back, I decided to go along with the Paradoxes." Cole grinned. "Beats total oblivion, doesn't it?" Quietly Cole chuckled to himself.

"Why are you telling us this?" Prue asked, narrowing her eyes. "You were never one to talk openly about your motives, why now?"

"Why? Because I need you to trust me, I need you to become the elementals." He said, looking between the sisters.

Phoebe looked at Cole, confused. "Since when were you all about maintaining the grand design? Your entire existence you've been screwing it up."

"Because, because…" Cole threw up his hands in exasperation. "It's just what you need to do okay? I need you to trust me." Cole looked directly into Phoebe's eyes, his gaze softening. "I know you have absolutely no reason to listen to a word I say, but right now, I'm all you have and you need _me_ to get through this."

Prue, Piper and Paige all looked to Phoebe, it was after all, her decision to make. Phoebe bit her lip and looked at the carpet under her feet. Slowly she raised her head.

"I'm sorry Cole," Phoebe whispered, as she tightened her grip on Coop's hand. "You ran out of chances years ago."

Cole's expression fell, as he watched tears gather around the edges of Phoebe's eyes. How he longed to be in the Cupids position right now, with his arms around Phoebe. Cole mentally shook the thoughts from his head and looked up at the four Charmed Ones standing before him.

Cole looked between each sister, Prue, standing slightly forward from her sisters, ready to defend those she loved at any moment. Piper, her two youngest children in her arms, as she looked to Phoebe in concern. Paige, a protective arm around Phoebe, as she glared at Cole. And of course, Phoebe herself, slumped back in her husband's arms, trying desperately not to let tears grace her beautiful cheeks.

Turning, Cole shimmered out, frustrated at his failure. Almost out of habit, he shimmered into the mausoleum. Cole glanced around, his eyes resting on the scorched spot where Phoebe had faked his death years ago. Cole screwed his eyes shut. Why couldn't he stop thinking about Phoebe? It had been years since he'd had such thoughts about her.

Storming up and down between the cold stone, Cole allowed his thoughts to wander.

He had gone into the Paradoxes expecting it to only be a means to cheat his way back into life, to interfere with Phoebe yet again. And at the beginning, that was what it was, another means to entwine himself in her life. But as the years progressed he found himself actually enjoying his work with the Paradoxes, he enjoyed having something to do, a purpose to fulfil. And gradually, the constant thoughts of Phoebe faded, faded until they were but a background noise.

But today had brought it all back, seeing her face again, seeing the Cupid with his arms around her, it had brought back all the old feelings, all the old conflicts.

Cole twirled his old athame around in the palm of his hand, he could not allow his thoughts to slip back to Phoebe, it was time to think of more pressing matters, matters concerning the elementals, the awakening, and of course, how it could all benefit Cole. A cold and frightening smile spread across Cole's face.

***

"Are you okay honey?' Coop asked, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as he looked down at his wife.

Phoebe nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, it was just a shock to see him again. I mean, I truly believed he was gone, forever." Phoebe shook her head and smiled slightly. "But don't worry about it I'm fine, really."

"Sisters," Paige said, walking back into the lounge room. "We really need to talk."

Piling onto the couch, the four sisters looked between each other.

"Okay, so obviously we can't trust Cole," Paige said, glancing sideways to Phoebe, who nodded in agreement.

"But," Prue continued, "the problem still remains. We've been turned into elementals, what do we do about it?"

Piper looked up from baby Melinda in her lap and looked between her sisters. "Well, there's only one thing to do isn't there?" Piper said shrugging. "Keep living our lives, and learn to master our new powers as we go, and if any demons come along then we-"

Phoebe cut in, a smile playing on her lips. "Kick some demon ass!" The four sisters laughed.

Piper smiled, "we haven't said that in a while."

The sound of a ringing cell phone sounded from Pipers pocket, Melinda began giggling at the new and exciting sound.

"Hello?" Piper said into her phone, Prue gently took Melinda from Piper's arms and began to play with her new niece.

"Dominic, slow down." Piper said into the phone frowning. "What? You quit? But you've only managed P3 for a month! I don't have time to find a new manager, I've got a new born baby for God's sake, and you can't just-"

Piper cut off her rant, looking into the phone. "He just hung up on me." She said, looking to her sisters. "The new manager for P3 just quit, saying something about not being able to handle all the crazy situations. What's that suppose to mean?"

"Piper, honey, don't worry we'll find someone else, it'll be fine." Leo said soothingly, stroking his wife's back.

"I'll do it." Prue said, surprising herself. "I'll manage P3." She smiled, although she was not expecting to say it, she was glad of her decision.

"What? Really?" Piper said, her eyes wide. "You want to manage P3?"

Prue grinned at her younger sister. "Yeah, I do. After all, seeing as I'm going to be staying here, I'll need a job, and I practically know how to run it, being your sister and all. That is, if you want me to?" Prue said, frowning slightly as she looked apprehensively at Piper.

"Yes, yes!" Piper said. "That would be great. I've got to stay with the kids right now, but if you want to ask Billie about it that would be great!" Piper threw her arms around her sister. "Thank-you!"

Prue laughed, and returned the hug. "I'm always here for you, remember? I'll always be your big sister." Prue paused. "Wait, Billie? Is that the blonde witch, does she work at the club?"

"Yeah," Paige said nodding. "So you did meet her? Because before you came back, Billie burst through the door saying she'd seen you."

Prue smiled, "Yeah, that was me, Billie's my new charge, and speaking of which," Prue said frowning. "She's actually calling me right now, got to go!" Prue called orbing out, flashing a quick smile at her sisters.

Piper and Phoebe grinned at each other. "Who would have thought," Phoebe said smiling. "That Prue would be a whitelighter."

Piper looked to her husband. "Why didn't you know about Prue being a whitelighter, Leo? I mean, you didn't see her up there did you?" Piper said.

Leo frowned, "I had no idea. They must have kept Prue away from me on purpose."

Piper sighed. "You've got to love the elders and their stupid god damn secrets."

Paige sighed, "well, apparently, we've got an even higher power to worry about." She said looking between her remaining sisters. "These so called Paradoxes, what do they do anyway?"

Phoebe and Piper shrugged. "Who knows," Phoebe said. "I mean, if Cole's one of them then they can't exactly be all that good."

"But the elders listen to them, so they can't be all that bad either." Leo pointed out.

"Looks like we'll just have to wait and see." Piper said, biting her lip as many worrisome thoughts filled her head. "We can't trust these Paradoxes until we know more about them and the Elders know nothing, as usual. It looks like we're on our own girls." Piper said, looking at her sisters.

"Well," Paige said smiling, "we're not quite alone. We've got Prue."

Phoebe and Piper smiled back at their younger sister. "Yes, we've got Prue." Phoebe said. "And for that, I am so grateful."

**Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading! Please review, both compliments and constructive criticism is welcome, I love getting feedback! (plus, reviews encourage me to write more…) xx **


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Many heartfelt thank-you's go to: ****CharmingKelsey16, LucyCelticPrincess, Mony19, Brillows4ever, Joleca, Dark Yellow Dino and will. you. say. ok for reviewing the fifth chapter. You guys are legends!**

**Chapter Six: Unanswered Questions**

Prue orbed into the storeroom of P3 and poked her head around the door. An angry man stormed out of the building while the blonde witch named Billie watched him go, trying to withhold a grin.

"Billie?" Prue called out, the girl turned round and smiled at the sight of Prue.

"Oh, hi. It's Prue right? You didn't really get the chance to tell me your name last time." Billie said, absentmindedly cleaning wine glasses.

Prue nodded. "Yeah, sorry about that. The elders wanted me to talk to my sisters before I revealed my identity to someone who knew them."

Billie nodded. "Oh yeah," Prue said grinning. "I'm taking over the management of P3 for Piper. So it looks like I'm your new boss." Prue smiled, when she thought about it, she was really glad she was in control.

"Sweet!" Billie said smiling. "You'll be a much better boss than Dominic."

Prue grinned at her enthusiasm. "So why did Dominic quit?" She asked.

Billie bit her lip. "Well," she said, unable to suppress her grin. "See, every now and then I have to vanquish a demon at work…"

Prue's eyes widened, shocked.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Billie said holding up her hands. "Before you say anything about exposing magic, keep in mind that I learnt from your sisters and they've drummed it into me pretty well." Billie smiled. "Oh, Dominic didn't actually see anything, he just was getting kind of freaked out by the scorch marks always turning up, and the odd sounds coming from the storeroom every now and then…"

Prue's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the rambling girl.

"But don't worry!" Billie said "he didn't connect anything to magic, he's just kind of freaked, and now we have you as manager, which, believe me is so much better." Billie flashed Prue a grin and began to clean the glasses again.

Prue had a feeling managing P3 was going to be anything but normal.

***

Piper closed her eyes, her hands buried deep in soil and concentrated. A seedling burst forth from within the dirt and began lengthening as it made its way towards the sun. Piper smiled as the plant grew, small fruits forming on its branches.

"I did it!" Piper said smiling at her little sister Paige, who lifted her arm and plucked a fruit and brought it to her lips. "And the fruit tastes almost as good as your cooking Piper." Paige said through a mouthful of the magic fruit.

Piper picked two fruits and handed them to each of her sons, who grinned happily at their prizes.

It was mid afternoon in the park and Piper, Paige, Leo, Melinda, Wyatt and Chris were in their own secluded area, protected by privacy wards to alert the of an intruder's presence.

"You give your power a go Paige." Piper said encouragingly, pleased with her own success.

Grinning, Paige picked up her half eaten fruit in one hand and gently began willing small winds to blow beneath it. Gradually, the fruit began to levitate from her hand. Growing more confident, Paige juggled the fruit without making physical contact, until she could master the movement without faltering.

With a larger gust of wind, Paige propelled the fruit with a strong force until it smashed against a distant tree.

"Well done." Leo said, adjusting the hat upon Chris's head.

Grinning wickedly, Paige replied. "I'm not done yet." She looked at her sister and brother in law and smiled. "You see the kite that's caught in the branches of that really big pine tree?" Paige stood and dusted the grass off her jeans. "Watch and learn."

Carefully, Paige built up air currents beneath her feet, levitating her slightly off the ground. Gradually, Paige made her way through the air currents she created, climbing the winds up to the kite in the tree before slowly, lessening the intensity of the air currents, letting her feet return gently to the ground.

Piper smiled, looking a little bit terrified. "You do realise you could have easily orbed the kite to you?"

"I know, I know." Paige replied, waving her hand at Piper. "But where's the fun in that? Besides, you can practically _feel_ the sheer power in using elemental abilities, it's pretty damn cool." Paige grinned.

"It's pretty damn dangerous." Piper replied, handing each of her sons a banana for an afternoon snack. "I'm trying to raise my three children in this environment, I just- I don't want it to go back to how it was before we fought the ultimate power."

Leo wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulder and looked firmly into Piper's eyes. "Honey, it's not going to be like that. All the endless demons aren't coming back; they're still trying to recuperate. Besides, Billie deals with any stragglers."

"I know, I know." Piper huffed, her hands, falling onto the ground, as the grass began to grow around her fingers. "After the Christy fiasco I just don't trust Billie around my children, I get that she's not going to hurt anyone, I get that. I trust her enough to work at the club, but I can't let her close to my family again. Ever." Piper looked up at Paige and Leo, longing for reassurance.

"You're right, honey, you're absolutely right," Paige said to her sister.

Leo grinned at his wife. "And that's exactly why you were made the Earth element, because you put your family before anything else, and because you're strong. Okay?" Leo wiped a tear from Piper's eye.

Piper nodded, a little embarrassed about her breakdown. "And what's with the god damn awakening thing, what's with this new powerful source of evil?"

Paige smiled, that was a question she couldn't really answer. "I don't know Piper, I really don't know."

***

That night, Phoebe's sleep was plagued with dreams, dreams that caused her to toss and turn all night. In her dream, she was in a large red room, the room was empty, but the heavy red colour of the walls hung around Phoebe like a cloak.

Suddenly, before her stood Cole, casually dressed in jeans and a black shirt. Phoebe looked at him, missing him.

"Come." He said, and turned away from her, walking from the red room and into black, suffocating darkness.

"Wait!" Phoebe yelled, as she stumbled after her old love. Then, Cole was behind her, his arms around her, embracing her. Phoebe couldn't decide if it felt right or not.

His hands pressed against her stomach, and suddenly, Phoebe could hear the sound of a small beating heart.

"I just wish she was mine." Cole whispered in her ear, his lips brushing gently against her neck, sending a shiver down Phoebe's spine.

"But Coop…" Phoebe said weakly, her voice fading out.

And then Cole was gone, and so was the room of red, and Phoebe was back in bed clutching her stomach, Coop fast asleep beside her. In a frenzy, Phoebe dashed to the bathroom and grabbed a pregnancy test from the shelf. Desperately, Phoebe paced the bathroom, impatient for the three minutes of waiting time to expire.

Biting her lip, her heart pounding, Phoebe glanced down at the plastic slip in her hand. A small pink plus sign stared up at her.

"I'm pregnant." Phoebe said, amazed. For so long she had longed to have the baby girl she had been promised, and she truly believed when she fell in love with Coop, that she would finally get the child she'd dreamed about. And yet, here she was, pregnant with Coop's child, with thoughts of Cole dancing around inside her head.

Phoebe moved across the living room and held the phone in her hand, dialling the number for the manor.

A very sleepy Piper answered the telephone. "Hello?"

"Piper!" Phoebe whispered into the receiver, in an attempt to prevent her husband waking up.

"Phoebe, Melinda just got back to sleep… why are you calling at four in the morning?" Piper said, her voice strained, exhaustion evident in her tone.

"Piper, I'm pregnant." Phoebe said.

"Congratulations Pheebs! I know you've wanted this for ages." Piper paused for a second. "How did you find out at four in the morning?"

Phoebe swallowed, "I found out in a dream…" Phoebe said hesitantly.

Piper let out a bark of laughter, "trust you to find out your pregnant in a prophetic dream Pheebs."

There was silence at Phoebe's end of the line for a second, before she replied in a hardly audible whisper. "It wasn't prophetic," Phoebe closed her eyes. "Cole told me, he came to me in my dream and said that he wished my baby was his and he held my stomach, and then I woke up and took the pregnancy test."

There was a pause, Piper slowly replied. "Cole? Phoebe, please tell me you're not still in love with him."

"No!" Phoebe replied hurriedly. "I don't love Cole, I don't know why he was in my dream, and I don't know if he was _actually _there, or if it was just my mind making it up. I guess after seeing him again…" Phoebe drifted off, not sure how to continue.

"Phoebe?" Piper said, urging her to continue.

"I don't know Piper! It was so weird seeing him again, after so many years. I love Coop, I do, it was just hard seeing Cole, it kind of brought up some old issues." Phoebe paused and looked into the phone. "I'll talk to you later Piper." She said hurriedly before hanging up the phone.

Slowly, Phoebe slipped back into bed. Coop turned over, his eyes slowly opening. "Hey honey," Coop said, reaching up and tucking a strand of hair behind Phoebe's ear. "Can't sleep?"

Phoebe looked down at her husband and smiled, Coop would always love her; her love with him would be easy, simple and sincere.

But would it be passionate? Phoebe couldn't help but ask herself.

"Guess what?" Phoebe said, brushing the unwanted thoughts from her mind as she looked back to her husband. "I'm pregnant."

The smile on Coop's face was beautiful as he leaned forward and embraced her. "I love you Phoebe, I love you more than anything." Coop said, holding her face between his hands.

Phoebe smiled, banishing all thoughts of Cole from her mind. "I love you too. Forever."

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review, I love getting feedback, plus, reviews encourage me to write more. xx**


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